Of Cakes and Jungles
by SnowKiter
Summary: It's time to bake a new cake! And of course Meta Knight is dragged along. A companion to the Court Magician.


No I do not own Kirby.

So just a fun little thing I wrote in my spare time by request of KittyKatzVillage. Takes place during the Court Magician, before things go crazy. I guess it would count as a "filler" chapter that I never bothered to put in. Ah well...apparently Kitsu has fans so here we are. Please enjoy. ^.^

**If you have not read the Court Magician, you will have no idea what's going on. Therefore it is highly recommended you do so first. **

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_**Of Cakes and Jungles**_

Fruit was the first thing on Kitsu's mind when she got up from bed, just before dawn. Not just any old lumped-in-a-bowl-on-the-table fruit though. Exotic fruit, the ones that grew in foreign rain forests and on carnivorous man-eating plants.

Her residence in Dream Land proved to be an easygoing and laidback existence. The days were spent entertaining the king with obvious magic tricks, watching sunrises and admiring nature, playing with Kirby, and poking fun at the walking ice block whose name happened to be Meta Knight. All of that, as well as of course, baking cake. Kitsu had plenty of downtime on her hands and had gone through her entire mental recipe book, for all the cakes she knew how to make. She had already repeated variations of chocolate cake many times—Kitsu believed in variation and that was all well and good, but it was still time for something new.

It was time to bake a new type of cake.

And she had decided—it would have to be made up of the most outrageous fruit on the planet.

With those statements in mind, the Court Magician pranced out of the front door of her cottage, throwing the screen door open with a cheerful cry which startled away the birds roosting in nearby trees. She smiled up at the light grayish-teal sky. The tall trees, swaying with cloaks of lush green leaves obstructed most of the view of the heavens and so Kitsu flew above them, her cartoon-like wings beating furiously on her hat.

She glided above the treeline and was rewarded with a glorious view of the sunrise. The sluggish twilight was giving way to a furious roaring blazing red in the east, the thin clouds filtering aggressive orange rays. The first outline of the rather moody sun glowed within the dappled crimson which painted that area of the sky a beautiful scarlet, in a brilliant ripple pattern like that of a koi. Rose-tinted golden rays shot from the molten light like spikes tipped with fresh flowing blood.

"Hmm hmm~," mused the magician, cheerfully eyeing the ominous but still breathtaking morning sun. "Looks like a storm today."

She hovered there in the air for a few more minutes before remembering her mission and shooting towards the direction of the castle.

Meta Knight would know where to find exotic fruit.

Within heartbeats, Kitsu was landing on the highest castle tower where the knight was known to often sulk. She saw a shadowy figure step behind a wall as if in an attempt to avoid her and she called out with a grin. "_Ohayo _Meta Knight~! Meta Knight~? Hey, Meta Knight~!" Her voice went off on a sing-song pitch with each pronunciation of the Star Warrior's name.

His name was full of such fun vowels to shout out.

"I heard you the first time." Was his subdued and quiet response, as he reluctantly stepped into view. His cape was wrapped tighter around himself than usual.

"Don't be so gloomy! It's a wonderful morning~! Look! Isn't the sunrise so pretty? Such a nice shade of red. Now that's a color I'd like for my wallpaper."

The knight seemed to stifle a yawn (though that was difficult to tell behind his mask) before answering in a calm monotone. "It is going to be a large storm." He said, like there was nothing to celebrate about it.

Kitsu wondered if she should start an argument with him concerning the benefits of rain on the environment, but decided against it. She decided to pose the question she came here for. "By the way, do you know where I could find some interesting fruit?"

She could see him blink, golden eyes melting into perplexity, obviously thrown by her abrupt change in subject. Meta Knight recovered quickly though, answering as though he knew what she was going to say long before. "Fruit is typically sold by Kawasa—," He began gravely.

"Not bo-oring fruit! Interesting fruit! You know, the kind that grows deep in inaccessible jungles and is like one-of-a-kind, and is guarded by some kind of savage mythical creature…"

"Why would you want something like that?"

"To bake a cake with! _Duh_." She threw her hands up in an eager and dramatic gesture.

Meta Knight was unmoved by the notion. "You can look such things up in the library." He began turning away, blue cape flapping.

"But you _know_, don't you?" Kitsu leaped up, struck by a new idea. "Why don't you come with me? We can go on a quest for exotic fruit together! Just like the old days, ne?"

"No."

"Let's go!" Without confirming that Meta Knight knew the location of any fruit at all, Kitsu snatched him by the arm and leaped off the tower, the knight in tow.

"_Kitsu_!" The knight yelped in surprise as he found himself facing a rapidly approaching ground.

The medic giggled and straightened him in mid-air. Despite the armor, the knight was lighter than he looked and she held him easily as she hovered, patiently waiting for his compliance. "Come on. I'm not going to carry you all the way there."

Not at all intimidated by the ground so far below, Meta Knight crossed his arms, wings stubbornly staying in cape form. "I am not coming with you," He said flatly, biting off each word with an edge of chill. "Please put me down."

Kitsu attempted to frown as she contemplated how she would make Meta Knight go with her. Typically, there were two ways to deal with obstinate people: Blackmail and bribery. She decided to employ both.

"You know Meta Knight," said Kitsu in an airy and casual tone. "Your candy is very tasty." She was referring to the large jar he kept in his room. Kitsu had not yet made a move to steal the entire thing, but _that _could just change. ..

The golden eyes narrowed immediately in suspicion, but the knight said nothing, still hanging limply in her grip. Her nonchalant voice was full of mischief.

"If I were to drop you now, how many seconds would it take for you to fly back up and then run into your room? Faster than if I was to say—teleport there?"

It was a bluff of course, although Meta Knight didn't need to know that. The magician had no such ability as to teleport herself. Her speed with her magical wings made for_ almost_ the same effect, but a little exaggeration never hurt.

Meta Knight started violently in her hands. "Kitsu," He said deliberately and frostily in a warning tone, hand twitching towards Galaxia. This was his candy she was threatening. It was more than mere danger—it was a hostage situation.

"Your candy is very tasty," She repeated, a somewhat devilish grin on her face. "But you know what else is tasty? Chocolate cake. And maybe, just _maybe_ I will make one for you. Just you and no one else." She leaned down and purred seductively in his ear. "So you won't have to share with anyone else."

The knight looked away, remaining icily silent as he was when faced with an enemy he would be hard-pressed to defeat. He remained dangling there like a mobile, examining the ground below with an intense stare.

Finally, Meta Knight sighed, muttered something under his breath and—after scanning the area carefully to make sure there was no one else present to see—the force of his wings snapping open almost knocked Kitsu out of the sky. She righted herself with a grin and was faced with a green-eyed knight whose voice was laced with subtly disguised irritation. "We will make this quick."

"Of course!" Kitsu made an exaggerated sweeping bow that would have been mocking if she knew how to be mean. "Please lead the way."

Meta Knight sighed again, glanced once at the rising sun for confirmation of direction, before shooting southwards. Kitsu cheerily followed, whistling a tune that she imagined would be fitting for the occasion of a picnic.

As they rapidly left the village behind, Meta Knight caught a warm thermal and soared even higher, his broad purple wings gliding with relish. The medic couldn't see his face, but she giggled quietly. The knight would die before he admitted it, but she knew he was enjoying the rare opportunity for flight. Being the paranoid sort of person he was, Meta Knight never let anyone see his wings—they were probably dusty from lack of use by now. Kitsu could not imagine going a week without experiencing the wonderful rushing thrill of flight, let alone many lonely years.

Indeed, it had been a while since they went all-out. By the time Meta Knight pushed them to full-speed, the sky around them was a blue blur, broken only by the occasional swift cold nip of passing through a cloud.

Then just as suddenly, Meta Knight halted. He began a sentence. "Be careful, we're in the territory of—,"

Kitsu was not paying attention—her eyes were glued towards the ground as she imagined what ingredients she would need for the cakes—and smashed face-first into his back. The force jerked Meta Knight forward, causing him to hit an abrupt wall of cold air that blew him into a nosedive towards the ground.

The Court Magician stared curiously after him, wondering about what he was going to say. In the territory of what?

She looked around. She was hovering high above a large dense jungle that looked flooded with olive-colored water and tangled with large arcing roots. Only small patches of muddy and sinkhole-looking land was visible from the air. A mangrove forest. Kitsu glanced upwards to see the entire land surrounded by enormous white-capped mountains, to which the jungles ended in rocky frost. The imposing mountains completely caged in the area and seemed to block out the sky beyond. Even the stormy morning sun was sealed away behind the rock, feeble orange light streaming sulkily over the dimly-lit jungles.

Mangroves thrived in salt-water conditions, meaning the sea was probably close by as well. Kitsu turned her gaze back downwards where Meta Knight had been blown into, as she realized just how perilous the area was. Where the frosty chill of the glaciers in the mountains met the humid warm air from the jungle, sudden and violent updrafts and gales made the skies extremely unpredictable and dangerous.

"It will be bad to be caught in a storm out here," The medic mused out loud. And then she remembered that someone was traveling with her.

"Oh! Meta Knight?" She drifted downwards cautiously. "Where'd you go?"

The air seemed to solidify and then form into a chute that shot down. Kitsu gasped as she felt herself sucked into the wind. With several dozen rapid laborious beats of her tiny magical wings, she managed to squirm out of the trap—just as the missing knight reemerged, sword drawn and freshly dripping.

"Move!" He barked out as he snatched her by the arm and swept forward. Kitsu craned her head to the side and spotted a flock of…things chasing them. They looked to be half-lizard, half-bird and half jellyfish. Sharp reptilian teeth lined the beak-like mouths but tapered scales were mixed in with colorful plumage. Strangest of all, transparent tentacle-like structures hung from the long feathered wings. A high-pitched screeching trumpet-like noise burst from them. The cacophony rose like a wave, the sound echoing mercilessly across the jungle valley.

"Uh…what are those?" Kitsu tilted her head curiously. "Are they friendly?"

Meta Knight did not bother to answer that and fought his way out of another unwelcome and misleading gale.

"Why don't we take cover in the jungle?" Kitsu suggested cheerfully, inferring from her companion's silence that the bird-reptile-jellyfish creatures were in fact, not friendly.

"That is not a good idea." Was the short reply. However, as if the winds heard him and were determined to spite him yet again, another flurry of cold and punishing air pressed down on them with icy fists. Meta Knight fought it valiantly, his wings straining to keep them in the air. The trumpet-like cries of their pursuers added more urgency to the altogether unpleasant situation.

However just then, Meta Knight lost his balance, his body tilted with a definite lack of gentleness. The gales shot the pair downwards and into the depths of the jungle below.

Luckily, the knight managed to get himself upright in time to touch down on a safe landing, in the interwoven branches of a mangrove tree. Clinging to the branch, Kitsu released her grip on her hat and looked up, with a sheepish grin. "Well we're here! Let's go find the fruit!"

His golden eyes expressed an extreme lack of enthusiasm. "Are you really still thinking about that, after what's happened?"

"What? What's happened?"

Meta Knight gave up on the subject and shook his head. "Do you even know what type of fruit you're looking for?"

"Interesting ones! Guarded by ferocious creatures!"

"Well anything here certainly fits the second category," The Star Warrior remarked dryly. The entwined and thick foliage hid them from the sight of any sky predators but Meta Knight cast an uneasy look upwards anyways. Kitsu followed his gaze and tilted her head. A drawn-out screech resonated from above, but none of the creatures emerged into view. Meta Knight let out a quiet breath and looked around them, like he was expecting things of the ground to attack next.

"Hmm hmm~? So what were those feathered things?"

Meta Knight gave an almost nonchalant shrug. "The beasts that guard this area which is their territory. Few have ventured here. I do not believe that they have yet been classified as to have a formal name."

"So a new species?" Kitsu bounded with excitement. "Cool! Let's name them after you. They're certainly bad-tempered and moody enough!"

"Perhaps we should name that leech after you, considering how much it seems to be enjoying your blood," Meta Knight countered, smoothly.

Kitsu's amber eyes widened and looked down frantically to see nothing at all on her. She shot the knight an accusing look to which he replied with an amused chuckle.

Kitsu gave him an indignant sniff and then glanced around. She spotted a large blue banana-like bunch of structures hanging from a bush. "Hey look! Exotic fruit!"

She was about to leap from the tree to go fetch her find, but Meta Knight pulled her back.

"That is extremely poisonous. The only edible fruits which grow here," The Star Warrior droned, "Is the Kankai apple."

"Apples! Awesome!"

"I believe that you will think otherwise once you get your hands on them," He said cryptically as he leapt gracefully to the ground. There was a dull _clunk_ as his metal shoes hit hard rock. "Do watch your step. The mud here serves as quicksand. And certain creatures live here as well…they rule the ground as much as our friends up there rule the sky."

"Oh wonderful!" Kitsu skipped after her companion without hesitation and without a single glance at where she was walking. "Where do the apples grow?"

In a solemn gesture, Meta Knight pointed with a gloved hand, towards the stormy sky.

Well, she knew that apples grew in trees. "Could you be a little more specific?"

"Kankai fruit are the primary food source for the inhabitants of this area," Meta Knight made another meaningful gesture upwards. "The trees that they grow in are also the roost sites for our…friendly hosts."

Right on cue, the trumpet sounds seemed to bend the tree branches back with the force of their fury. Meta Knight pointed left and the two ducked under a bush as a pair of the unnamed sky creatures glided over them.

"There are too many to fight," Meta Knight said quietly, releasing his hold on Galaxia's hilt. "We will have to sneak in, grab what we need, and then run. Or we could give up on the idea altogether," He added as an afterthought.

Give up? How silly. That would be no fun at all. Kitsu merely laughed buoyantly in reply and tugged his cape. "Let's go!"

With a defeated sigh, the knight allowed the medic to drag him towards a random direction. Kitsu bounced forward for about a dozen paces when a large worm-like creature the size of a limousine burst out of the mud before them.

Kitsu stared curiously at it, about to ask her friend whether this thing was friendly or not, when Meta Knight yanked her to the left. With the emergence of the worm creature, other hostile jungle animals apparently decided to join in the festival as well. Sharp-toothed insects the size of dinner platters snapped at the chinks in Meta Knight's armor, buzzing angrily. Furious growling came from a pack of small weasel-like beasts which also chased them.

Meta Knight seemed to know his way around the jungle. He weaved between the trees expertly, avoiding hidden patches of quicksand under unassuming layers of dirt. Finally, they managed to lose their hoard of pursuers.

"Well that was fun."

"That was not fun," Meta Knight deadpanned, although he seemed hardly out of breath. With the danger gone, the medic wandered forward, prepared to search for her fruit once more. She stopped short. There was a sweet and citric and nostalgic, almost cinnamon-like scent in the air. There was a soft _clink _behind her as Meta Knight shifted his weight forward.

"Is that…?" Kitsu did not bother to turn around for confirmation or even finish the question for that matter. She reached behind without looking, located the knight and with him in tow, rushed forward with renewed vigor. She broke into a trot and then an all-out sprint. Finally, Kitsu gave up on running completely and launched herself upwards, taking the startled knight with her.

"Kitsu!" He exclaimed with alarm. "Don't just charge in—,"

But it was too late. The two burst from the treetop and found themselves completely surrounded by the tentacle-bearing avian reptiles. Or where they reptilian avian? Kitsu could not really decide. Either way, the creatures did not look very pleased to see her. They bared their small needle-like teeth and the trumpet noises rose into an angry screechy uproar.

"_Kitsu!_" sighed Meta Knight, more out of exasperation than terror. It seemed that was his favorite tone to use when saying her name, much as she had fun with singing his, multiple times in a row.

"Hey look, there they are!" The magician said with excitement, pointing to the clumps of ripe-looking sweet-smelling purple oval fruits hanging from the tallest of the trees. Meta Knight gave an audible groan as the angry bird-reptiles dove like a swarm of giant angry wasps.

Without hesitation, he freed himself from Kitsu's grip and spun into a Sword Beam arcing from the unsheathing motion of Galaxia. His wings opened in time for him to propel away from the outstretched tentacles of a foe. The slimy appendages cackled with electricity. Kitsu's only cheerful thought as she fluttered unhurriedly towards the Kankai Apples, was that Popstar sure had a lot of interesting things living on it.

The delicious smell coming off of the fruits only strengthened as she approached. Kitsu reached out happily, her hand brushing the delicate and smooth skin, when large spikes popped from the apple, almost cutting her. Kitsu drew back, startled, as what looked like a mouth opened from the surface of the fruit and snapped at her.

"They're carnivorous," Meta Knight called to her, without even looking back.

"Nice of you to tell me so early," laughed Kitsu, the air of easygoing joy about her unwavering. "But whatever. Exotic fruits are _always_ carnivorous. It's a rule."

If that was so, the Kankai was definitely a martinet to that rule. The small fruit seemed to swell further, thorn-like jaws lunging for Kitsu's arm. In fact, the entire tree seemed to spring to life as _all_ of the apples grew mouths and swung themselves at the unfortunate medic. It was not just a carnivorous plant. It was a carnivorous tree.

Meta Knight had apparently been underestimating himself as well. Despite their numbers, the reptilian birds were being forced back by his display of well-aimed Sword Beams. They hovered like wolves brought at bay, beady eyes furious and tentacles buzzing with electricity.

"These guys are the only creatures that can eat the Kankai fruit," Meta Knight said with characteristic calm. "Their tentacles roast the fruits before they can get bitten by them."

Leave it to Meta Knight to give out factual information about tentacle-waving birds and man-eating trees. But Meta Knight was not the only one who knew useless facts about useless things.

Kitsu shook her head furiously. "No no no no no. You can't just _roast_ apples by sticking them in electricity. It just turns nasty and mushy and all the flavor—no! What a waste, the way they're eating these. Apples have to be cooked or baked in a very precise way to bring out the perfect balance of crunchiness and juiciness! The oven needs to be preheated at _exactly_ t—"

"The Kankai, Kitsu. Do you want them or not?" Evidently having tired of her lecture about cooking, Meta Knight broke in. His sword waved threateningly at the enemies before him.

"Ah right." Kitsu peered forward and flinched back when the aggressive fruits snapped at her like rabid leashed dogs. Undeterred, she smiled and lifted her baton. The wand spun in a shiny arc and one by one, severed the apples from the stems, lifting them into the air. Even separated from the main entity, the fruits still persisted in their biting and snarling motions, their little mouth chomping down furiously.

"Okay got them!" Kitsu called happily. Out of nowhere, she produced a brown shopping bag which she captured the apples in. "We can go now!"

Meta Knight heaved a quiet sigh, whether of relief or disappointment, Kitsu could not tell. Nevertheless, he launched one last Sword Beam to further scatter his foes before darting to the right. "Then come."

With the relentless storm of Sword Beams out of their faces, the bird reptiles began to regroup immediately. Their small eyes blazed with anger and their tentacles blazed with less-than-friendly intents. Kitsu followed closed behind Meta Knight, as the trumpeting roars arose from behind them. _Oh good_, she thought, looking back briefly in amusement. It would be an exciting and epic chase. How suspenseful. Kitsu enjoyed running away from angry things, especially with the feeling of grand achievement that came afterwards.

And it seemed there was one more element to the suspense. Kitsu directed her gaze up ahead, where massive dark storm clouds rolled in from beyond the mountains. They converged on the jungle valley with dark intentions, sealing the blue of the open sky away like the lid of a coffin. The screeching of their trumpeting pursuers was answered by a mournful roar of deep thunder, echoing in a sonorous tone against the frigid mountains. The storm preceded by the dawn's red sun had arrived.

"This will be nasty to fly through," remarked Kitsu in an ever carefree and blithe manner.

"Indeed," Meta Knight cast a slightly forlorn look at himself, as if regretting that the risk of rust to his armor.

"Whatever. At least we get cake!"

The knight mumbled something that he obviously did not mean for Kitsu to hear, but she caught the faint fragment of "It better be chocolate" anyways. She giggled.

"Don't worry! You'll definitely get payment for accompanying me here!"

Meta Knight turned and gave her a solemn but glaring I-am-a-knight-and-therefore-I-cannot-accept-bribery look. Kitsu returned his golden gaze evenly.

"I think I'll line your cake with red velvet. You like that especially, don't you?"

The Star Warrior shuddered as though two great forces inside of him were conflicting, before hastily turning away and making as though he was concentrating hard on flying. Kitsu barely suppressed another giggle. Meta Knight was so fun to mess with.

They reached the storm. The storm welcomed them with buffeting freezing spine-chilling rain that also happened to be part slush and part hail. The lightning lacing around them in a dangerous but mesmerizing dance did not seem to comfort Meta Knight. Well, he did have a valid reason, with all that metal and electricity-conducting armor.

Kitsu took the opportunity to gently tease him. "Hmm hmm~! Look at that. You've been promoted from walking ice block to walking lightning rod."

The knight snorted lightly, dodging a conveniently launched lightning bolt easily. "I suggest you put a shield up, or you might just get singed too."

Kitsu bit back a retort as electricity narrowly missed the tail on her fox hat.

They climbed arduously upwards, despite getting mercilessly pounded by the sleet and exerting excessive amounts of energy in dodging the rather belligerent lightning. At last, the soaked and exhausted pair managed to fly above the storm clouds.

High above such frivolous nonsense like storms and rain, the highest reaches of the skies were tranquil and serene. The infinite space around them was the familiar and smoothly blended shades of soft azure. The calm and silence was almost as deafening as the thunder still ringing in Kitsu's ears. Here it was nothing but blue, not even clouds and the air was thin enough that no birds would venture. (Not that any would attempt to fly through that storm raging far beneath their feet) Their pursuers at the very least, were gone. Not even they would be crazy enough to attempt to fly through that blitz of lightning.

Meta Knight was dragging behind slightly, trying to shake his wings dry with every flap. Kitsu had no such problem as she fluttered ardently ahead, humming. It had been a long time since she had flown so high. Zooming around in space didn't count—that was more of an unsettling, stomach-dropping sensation, rather than one of loose freedom. Kitsu preferred to do her space traveling in ships and the whole sword-to-sword-battling-in-the-vacuum-of-space thing in the Galaxy Soldier Army, never did agree with her.

It took them a weary twenty minutes to reach the town again. Meta Knight did not seem to have the strength to fly on to the castle and so he stopped in the forest and walked the rest of the way there. Kitsu invited him to her house, but the knight politely declined, as he wrung the water from his cape. The fox magician shrugged cheerily as she headed back herself, leaving the wet and moody Star Warrior to sulk alone. Kitsu herself got dry within moments, shaking herself briefly.

The adventure made her rather hungry—she had not eaten breakfast before trekking out into the foreign jungle. That was certainly not a good habit to pick up. Breakfast after all, was the most important meal of the day. No, no. At this rate she would end up with terrible habits like brooding and sulking alone and never sleeping too…

But breakfast could come later. Kitsu had a cake to bake. She lifted the brown shopping bag and was mildly alarmed to see several small holes already through it. None of the apples had managed to escape though. The magician dumped them into the first sturdy structure she could find—and that happened to be an unused glass fishtank that she honestly did not remember getting. But nonetheless, the fishtank served its purpose and Kitsu returned to the kitchen, leaving the angry apples to rage futilely within their prison.

She would wait until the fruit were less lively. For now, she could start with another task. Humming cheerily, the medic brought out her cooking utensils and began measuring flour and counting out the bars of pure chocolate.

She did, after all, owe Meta Knight a chocolate cake.

_Owari_

[The End]

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So there we are. Writing stuff like this makes me want to eat cake...

It was fun though. Have a nice day. ^.^


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